ADB, UK establish fund to improve trade, connectivity in Asia-Pacific

The Asian Development Bank or ADB and the United Kingdom have launched the Asia regional trade and connectivity fund or ARTCF ahead of the annual meeting of ADB’s board of governors in Manila.

The fund, to be administered by ADB, will provide support to address some of the frontier challenges ADB members face in improving regional integration, such as enabling private sector development and addressing regional public goods, the Manila-based lender said in a statement on Wednesday.

The Department for International Development or DFID will provide an initial contribution of up to $30 million.

The statement said the ARTCF will initially focus on eight central and south Asian countries, specifically Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, the Kyrgyz Republic, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, and Tajikistan.

In line with ADB’s operational plan for regional cooperation and integration, 2016–2020, the fund will help the selected ADB developing member countries to identify and design projects that improve cross-border transport, energy, and information and communications technology infrastructure.

The ADB said it will also help recipients of the fund tackle red tape and regulatory bottlenecks; provide financing for regional projects to increase their poverty reduction and gender impacts; and strengthen the capacity of the member countries for prospective investments.

“ADB’s partnership with DFID will help further our ambitious knowledge-driven agenda and ensure that our members have access to the most effective, evidence-based solutions to further their regional integration goals,” said ADB Vice-President for Knowledge Management and Sustainable Development Bambang Susantono.

“Let me extend my special appreciation to DFID for its support on new regional cooperation and integration areas.”

ADB Vice-President for Private Sector and Cofinancing Operations Diwakar Gupta said, “One of ADB’s core goals is to help our member countries work, trade, and connect more easily with each other and across the region.”

ADB and DFID’s first cofinancing collaboration was in 1996, and since then, the two institutions have partnered on poverty alleviation, infrastructure development, finance, health, climate change, and public and private partnerships to benefit the people of the Asia and Pacific region.